Foreign universities will need UGC's nod to set up campuses in India

New Delhi, January 5

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Foreign universities will need the University Grants Commission’s nod to set up campuses in India and the initial approval will be for 10 years, the panel’s chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said on Thursday.

He also stressed that foreign universities with campuses in the country can offer full-time programmes only in physical mode and not online or distance-learning.

These universities will have the freedom to devise their own admission process and fee structure, Kumar said as the UGC on Thursday announced the draft regulations for ‘Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India’.

He said foreign universities would also have to ensure quality of education imparted at their Indian campuses is on par with their main campus.

On matters related to funds and funding, he said cross-border movement of funds would be according to the Foreign Exchange Management Act.

The final norms be notified by the month’s end after taking into account feedback from stakeholders, Kumar said, adding that the approval granted to foreign universities would be renewed in the ninth year subject to meeting of certain conditions.